A long-lost bird has been sighted in Brazil after a 75-year absence, reports BirdLife International. The news broke last weekend at the Brazilian Birdwatching Festival when ornithologist Rafael Bessa presented…
As the celebratory dust of the Paris climate change summit settles, an important gap remains. The reductions in carbon pollution that nations pledged to achieve are important steps in the…
he Maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) is by all accounts a bizarre creature. Nicknamed a “fox on stilts,” it is perhaps best known for its once-heard-never-forgotten “roar-bark.” A single look at…
River in the Peruvian Amazon. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has defended a plan to build a railway across the South American continent as a way to protect the environment and…
Summary of main pressures on forests in different deforestation fronts. Graphics courtesy of WWF's LIVING FORESTS REPORT: SAVING FORESTS AT RISK. Click to enlarge. Environmental group WWF has released a…
A remnant tree looms over the landscape in southwestern Tocantins state. Photo credit: Brendan Borrell Farmers in north-central Brazil, where the savanna meets the Amazon rainforest, are clearing land at…
Blue and yellow macaws (Ara ararauna) are a common sight in the Cerrado. Photo credit: Brendan Borrell At the Los Angeles auto show in November 2008, Hyundai made a groundbreaking…
A gracile mouse opossum at the Botanic Garden of Brasília. Photo credit: Brendan Borrell André Mendonça pops open the spring-loaded door on the shoebox-sized trap and peeks inside. Two bulging,…
Cerrado corn crop with peccaries. Photo by Brendan Borrell. Margie Peixoto was driving her pickup across her farm in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul one February afternoon…
Kenneth MacDicken and Francesco Tubiello work at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The views expressed in this commentary are their own. Old-growth rainforest in Malaysian…
Researchers devise new method to track soy consumption Rainforest fragments in a sea of soyfields in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Sitting down at my favorite restaurant…
Deforestation for soy in the Brazilian Amazon and cerrado. Data from Gibbs et al 2015, photo by Rhett A. Butler. Click image to enlarge. The moratorium on forest conversion established…
Forest and soybean fields in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Photos by Rhett Butler. Soy consumption in China and Europe is having significant ecological impacts in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso,…
Agriculture and forest in the Brazilian Amazon Better utilization of its vast areas of pasturelands could enable Brazil to dramatically boost agricultural production without the need to clear another hectare…
Tropical grassland biomes often defined, mismanaged as forests Trees absorb CO2 and trap carbon molecules, and countless are lost as forests are felled around the world. So why not plant…
Sugar cane in the tropics. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. If Brazil wants to respect its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions it should target low productivity cattle pasture rather…
Deforestation for cattle ranching in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Brazil could reduce more than a quarter of emissions linked to deforestation worldwide by intensifying cattle production…
Legal forest reserve and cattle pasture in the Brazilian Amazon. By Rhett Butler. The revised Forest Code passed into law by Brazil in 2012 could authorize conversion of 400,000 square…
With more than 140 cities implementing water rationing, analysts warning of collapsing soy and coffee exports, and reservoirs and rivers running precipitously low, talk about the World Cup in some…
Brazil could substantially boost its agricultural output while increasing protection of its native ecosystems, finds a new analysis published by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), an international think tank. The…
As a family, cats are some of the most well-studied animals on Earth, but that doesn't mean these adept carnivores don't continue to surprise us. Scientists have announced today the…
A team of researchers has discovered a new species of bat in Brazil, which has put a previously known species, Bokermann's nectar bat (Lonchophylla bokermanni), at risk of extinction. Long…
Landlocked in the navel of South America, the forests, wetlands and savannahs of Paraguay boast rich biodiversity and endemic species, yet the unique landscapes of Paraguay also face increasing threats,…
Intensification of Brazil's sugarcane industry in response to rising demand for sugar-based ethanol could have impacts on the regional climate reports a new study by researchers from Arizona State University,…
Rainforests that have been affected by even low-intensity fires are far more vulnerable to invasion by grasses, finds a new study published in special issue of the journal Philosophical Transactions…
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Brazil has launched a new platform that enables farmers and ranchers who have cleared forest beyond the legal minimum to come into compliance by purchasing…
Male specimen of new species: Iridopelma oliveirai. Photo courtesy of R. Bertani. If you suffer from acute arachnophobia, this is the perfect Halloween discovery for you: a spider expert has…
Still from camera trap video. Bush dog on left side. Photo courtesy of WWF Brasil. South America's rare and little-known bush dog (Speothos venaticus) looks like a miniature dachshund who…
Maned wolf at Beardsley Zoo. Photo by: Sage Ross. Known for its abnormally long lanky legs, its reddish-orange coat, and its omnivorous diet, the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) is one…
Change in vegetation cover by biome across Latin America, 2001-2010. Click image to enlarge. Latin America lost nearly 260,000 square kilometers (100,000 square miles) of forest — an area larger…
